The Indian Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, has announced that his government will be establishing two new microfinance funds to help provide easier credit access for the nation’s poor. The two funds, the Financial Inclusion Fund and the Financial Inclusion Technology Fund, will be worth Rs 5 billion (USD 127 million) each.
Search Results for: India
NEWS WIRE: India: Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Trust to Float Fund to Support Microfinance Institutions
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Indian Government-owned Bank of Baroda to Establish Microfinance Division
The Bank of Baroda, a state-owned Indian bank, plans to establish a microfinance division as part of its strategy to service the rural areas of India that are largely unreached by financial institutions, according to Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of Baroda, Anil K. Khandelwal. As of March 2007, the Bank of Baroda had 38,000 employees and 2,700 branches in 21 countries. It had USD 36.4 billion (INR 143,146 crore or 1.43 trillion) in total assets and a return on assets (ROA) of 0.72 percent.
NEWS WIRE: India: The ‘Missing Market’ as a Business Opportunity
Banks are now trying to expand in areas still untouched by them as a purely commercial venture.
NEWS WIRE: Indian Government Plans to Set Up Two Funds on Microfinance
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Rickshaw Operators in India Opting to Borrow from Bandhan and other Microfinance Institutions
An article in the Hindustan Times reports that a growing number of microfinance institutions (MFIs) are lending to rickshaw operators and competing with local dealers, owners who rent their rickshaws to pullers. This growth is fueled by the fact that many dealers are obtaining very high returns on investment (up to 84 percent per annum), while MFIs are offering cheaper loans and promoting ownership.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Indian Financial Inclusion Firm, A.Little.World, Offers Mobile Microfinance Banking and Draws Big Investors: Enam Financial and Legatum Capital
Enam Financial, a leading Indian financial service provider, has picked up a ten percent stake in A.Little.World, a company which integrates a microfinance model with a new multi-bank payment system in order to bring mainstream banking capabilities to the large population of un-banked rural Indians. The amount of investment was not disclosed.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Birla Sun Life to Offer Microinsurance Products to Indian’s Rural Community
Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Ltd. (BSLI) has launched two microinsurance products aimed at the rural masses and the lower income urban communities in India. The organisation is a joint venture between The Aditya Birla Group, one of the largest business houses in India with a turnover close to Rs.49,440 crores (USD 12 billion) and Sun Life Financial Inc. of Canada, a leading international financial services organisation, with total assets under management of CDN 435 billion (USD 415 billion).
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Development Innovations Group Launches New Microfinance Company in India to Provide Loans and Housing Finance for the Urban Poor
CapStone Financial Services Pvt Ltd., has been launched by the Development Innovations Group (DIG), a private international firm specialising in development finance. Its remit will be to provide microfinance to the urban poor. The first office is in Chennai, though the company intends to spread throughout all of India, focusing on towns with populations of over 8 million.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Women’s Apparel Company Shabby Apple Pairs up With Unitus to Increase Microfinance Services in India
Shabby Apple, a designer dress company based in Salt Lake City, Utah, is releasing their new fall line of fashions, and will be donating 5 percent of its proceeds to Unitus, a non profit organization dedicated to alleviating poverty by increasing access to microfinance. The money will specifically be utilized to aid women entrepreneurs in India.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Nearly Half of All Indians are Unbanked with no Access to Microfinance, According to Reserve Bank of India
As India celebrates 60 years of independence, Usha Thorat, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revealed that 40% of Indians do not have a bank account. Mr Thorat was speaking at the Financial Inclusion Conference 2007 in London, UK in June 2007.
The RBI, which is India’s central bank, collated nationwide data which showed that just 59% of adults have a bank account, assuming that every person has only one account. In fact the number could be far lower as the likelihood is that some individuals have multiple accounts.
NEWS WIRE: Nearly Half of Indians Financially Excluded
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Gradatim IT Ventures Begins Operations in India to Offer Solutions in Microfinance Sector
Gradatim IT Ventures, a privately held IT (information technology) company with holding entities in Singapore and India, has commenced business operations in India. They have their corporate office in Bengaluru and BPU (Business Process Utility) operations based out of Chennai.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: The International Finance Coporation, Netherlands Development Finance Company, and Deutsche Bank Invest Jointly in Indian Microfinance Private Equity Company Aavishkaar Goodwell
Aavishkaar Goodwell (AGI), a for-profit business development company that provides equity finance to microfinance organizations in India, is receiving USD 8 million in investments from the Netherlands Development Company (FMO), together with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group that provides financial products to build the private sector in developing countries, and global investment institution Deutsche Bank, to support the company in expanding its outreach.
NEWS WIRE: IFC, FMO, and Deutsche Bank Invest in Aavishkaar Goodwell to Support Growth of Microfinance in India
Source: India PR Wire
Article available here.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), and Deutsche Bank today announced their joint investment in the microfinance private equity company Aavishkaar Goodwell. This investment will support the launch of up to 60 greenfield microfinance organizations and the expansion of up to 10 fast-growing microfinance institutions across India.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: The Development Credit Bank of India Dives into Microfinance
Indias Development Credit Bank will be expanding their services to include microfinance, in addition to increasing its focus on the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector lending.
We want to venture into small credit and mid-ticket personal finance while continuing to serve the big customers, Mr Gautam Vir, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer said.
Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: The Development Credit Bank of India Dives into Microfinance”
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Aviva Life Insurance India to Provide Micro-Insurance to BASIX customers in India, in a Plan Called Grameen Suraksha
Aviva Life Insurance India, a joint venture between the Dabur Group (74%), Indias fourth largest FMCG company, and Aviva Plc (26%), the largest insurance group in the UK, announces the launch of Grameen Suraksha, a micro-insurance rural term life insurance plan for customers of BASIX, a major microfinance firm in India.
Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: Aviva Life Insurance India to Provide Micro-Insurance to BASIX customers in India, in a Plan Called Grameen Suraksha”
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) Working Group on Microinsurance, Munich Re Foundation, and Indias Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Host Microfina
MICROINSURANCE CONFERENCE 2007
NOVEMBER 13-15, 2007, HYATT REGENCY IN MUMBAI, INDIA
The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) Working Group on Microinsurance, international research organization Munich Re Foundation, and Indian government-run Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) have scheduled the third annual Microinsurance Conference. The cost to attend is USD 490; representatives of non-profits from developing countries, however, are eligible for the USD 100 discount price.